Nissan is predicting it will have a shortage of its all-electric LEAF models even before the car has gone on sale in the UK.
The Japanese carmaker has already taken over 7,000 pre-orders for the model in the US and around 4,000 in Japan after the order books opened early this month.
However the C-segment electric car isn’t available to order in the UK until July ahead of the first deliveries set for March 2011.
Initial capacity for orders from the US stands at 25,000 units for the year, with the carmaker stating that it is already on track to meet this target. According to Reuters news agency the carmaker expects that demand will outstrip supply meaning that the carmaker will be making money on its first electric car.
Mark Perry, Nissan’s North America director of product planning and strategy, told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference: "We are on a double time march [for launch]," Perry said. "We are on our way to have 25,000 firm orders by December."
In Japan, orders for the LEAF model reached 3,754 in three weeks- more than half its target for the entire year. The carmaker launched the pre-order process for its all electric model in its home country on April 1, and orders now are fast approaching the 6,000 unit sales target set for the whole year.
The carmaker is predicting that there will be shortages of the Leaf within the first three months of sales worldwide.
The LEAF is a four seater hatchback, is powered by lithium ion batteries capable of delivering a top speed of around 90mph and a range of the 100miles. It’s price has yet to be confirmed for the UK, but is expected to stand just over £20,000 once a £5,000 Government grant is taken into account. This figure should mean that it is priced competitively against rival carmaker Toyota’s hybrid offering, the Prius.
